Sep 1, 2010 Posted by arif in Reviews | 1 comment

What’s the Right Thing to do? I’m Confused.

I had once blogged that to live a life of no-regret and to maintain a sparkling conscience, you need to follow just two steps.

1. Always do the Right thing.
2. Give your best at it.

But what is the Right thing to do? Is majority always right? Does one always follow the principle of the Greatest Good for the Greatest Number? If so, then you are justified in killing one person to take his organs to save five others who need them. If that doesn’t make moral-intutional sense because you feel individuals have rights that are greater than the majority, then you have no right to support a ban on Alcohol, Smoking or Prostitution, if certain individuals want to indulge in the same, while the majority don’t.

I’ve asked these questions to myself several times, I’ve read philosophical books on these and have even attended classes on the same.  I have finally come across the best explanation in this fabulous series of lectures by Harvard Professor Michael Sandel on What’s the Right Thing To Do.  The first few were simply riveting and am eagerly looking forward to completing the series. I am on Lecture 4, Titled: Consenting Adults. Watch or Hear the first lecture here and if you’ve ever thought about the above questions, I guarantee you’ll be hooked. Professor Michael’s practical examples of what’s the right thing make this so engaging and relevant, I wish I had learnt this stuff back in school.

Oh by the way, I bumped into this lecture, because I am subscribed to the Learn Out Loud Free Resource of the Day Email. I LOVE this Email Service. I get access to incredible wealth of Audio and Video material without searching for it. I highly recommend subscribing to it.

May 8, 2010 Posted by arif in Reviews | 0 comments

Dump Google, Adopt Aardvark

There’s a new search engine in town. It’s Called Aardvark. It trumps over Google for the following reasons:

- You may just post your question and forget about it.
- In a short while, your answer will be sent to you, instead of you peering through pages of search results for it.
- The answers are highly personalised for you.

The way Ardvark has been executed, is just beautiful. Once you register at Aardvark, simply post your question there and shortly you’ll have answers emailed to you. How it works is that it emails that question to other registered members whose interests correlate with the subject of your question. Ofcourse there’s a catch, you would be emailed questions on subjects that you have mentioned are your areas of interest. But it’s so worth it. When you start receiving great answers, you want to and feel like reciprocating and responding to others who have queries on stuff that you are good at and know the answers to.

So next time you want to search for best flight options to a place or the best deal on any product or any other search query, dump Google and give Aardvark a shot.

Here are some questions that I’ve asked and the correspondingly great answers that I’ve received.

By the way, Google has bought Aardvark.

May 6, 2010 Posted by arif in Reviews | 1 comment

Arif Vakil’s MBA Course in 3 short lines

I’ve been reading Rich Dad, Poor Dad, here’s one of the several quotes that have resonated with me.

In the entrepreneur classes I teach, I constantly remind people to not focus on their product, service or widget, but to focus on developing management skills. The three most important management skills necessary to start your own business are :
1. Management of cash flow.
2. Management of people.
3. Management of personal time.

I would say, the skills to manage these three apply to anything, not just entrepreneurs. The three matter in the way you live your life as individual, or part of a family, a business, a charitable organisation.

He’s hit the nail smack on the head with that. Look around at the entrepreneurs you know. When I do, I notice that the successful ones have cracked all three of the skills listed above. And the ones who’ve not got it made yet are lacking in one or more of those skills.

Mar 28, 2010 Posted by Mohammed Ali in Reviews | 3 comments

Review: CheckIt Diagnostics

What is CheckIt Diagnostics?
CheckIt Diagnostics is a software for Windows XP and above, designed to fully test your computer’s components. This includes stress tests that can reveal hidden problems.

What Tests does it cover?

CheckIt Diagnostics covers a large range of Tests.  There are too many to detail here, but here’s an overview of what it does check:

* System (Softwares, Processors, Memories, Ports, PCI Devices)

* Storage (Disc Drives & Optical Drives)

* Communications & Network (Network Adapters, Internet Access & Modems)

* Attached Devices (Devices such as Printers)

* Audio / Visual (Graphic Adapters, Desktop Graphics & Audio Input, Output & Playback)

Who should use it?

CheckIt is useful in the following situations:

* When you’ve bought a new computer and would want a comprehensive checkup of the Hardware and Software systems.

* When you suspect something is wrong with your computer, and would want to know what exactly is causing the problem.

* Want to save costs in getting a Technician to find out where the problem is in your computer.

Note that CheckIt is a Diagnostics tool.  It will help you find out where the problem is, but not fix the problem.

CheckIt has been developed by SmithMicro Software and can be bought from their Online Store.

Mar 14, 2010 Posted by arif in General, Reviews | 1 comment

A couple of new podcasts that I dabble in.

If you spend more than 15 minutes commuting and don’t listen to podcasts or any sort of audio material, gosh oh-gosh, you are missing an entire world of laughter and learning. Over the last week I have been hearing heard the fabulous story of an ordinary individual taking up fight against Racial killers of the Ku Klux Klan, the hilarious tale of a sleep-walker and his misadventures and the wonderful mystic words of Al Ghazzali from his ageless Alchemy of Happiness.

The audio explosion on the internet is as rich as the text and video material out there. What is it that interests you? What problem is it that’s bothering you? Just search for a podcast on that topic in iTunes or Yahoo podcasts and boom, you’ve got yourself a university of knowledge on that topic area. So much to listen but don’t have time to do so? You don’t need to take out time, just pop the mp3 files in your phone, plugin the earphones to your ear and hear it while coming to or leave from work. It couldn’t get easier.

I’m subscribed to about a 100 podcasts, however I listen to just a handful of those. I’ve blogged about some earlier podcasts that I dabble in here and here. In addition to those, below are a couple of others that I’m currently tuned into:

The Moth Story Telling Podcast
It’s Rated the number 1 Podcast for several weeks on the ITunes podcast directory, every story I’ve heard till date, connected with me at some level. The podcast contain true stories of individuals, which although is completed within 15 minutes, I’ve caught myself thinking, reflecting on the stories long after it’s passed through my ears. A podcast that I would heartily recommend.

Fora TV Audio of the Week Podcast
Fora TV, has an eclectic selection of lectures, panel discussions, debates on Political, Scientific, or any other topical subject (Thanks for the recommendation Sudeep). In the past, the episodes that I’ve heard on Fora TV and have found them to me greater insight to the workings of the world are:

Book Summary of Hot, Flat and Crowded by Thomas Friedman

A panel Discussion on Would we be better off without Religion

Raj Patel, discussing his book, Stuffed and Starved. Why and how is half the world under-nourished and the other half Obese.

Finally, in addition to the above, I’m having simply a ball of a time, listening the audio rendition of Right Ho, Jeeves by P G Wodehouse, performed by B J Harrison of The Classic Tales Podcast. I’ve tried to pickup books by Wodehouse several times, but could never read past a few pages. But when B J Harrison gets behind the microphone to read out the exuberant expiditions of Wooster and Jeeves, not only do I look forward to each new episode but also find myself chuckling and giving whoops of excitement as I go of driving jolly well off to work.

If you are new to subscribing to Podcasts, here’s a great YouTube Video, that explains how it’s done.